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Friday, September 9, 2011

Another installment of Superman guiding us through the New 52, that's what!

And since we just happen to have a picture of Superman duking it out with OMAC up top, we might as well talk about O.M.A.C. #1 by Dan DiDio and Keith Giffen.

When I first heard they were bringing this title back, my first thought was "Really? With DiDio writing?" Then I saw that Keith Giffen was on pencils and plots and all is right with the world. After reading this issue, I'm glad to say that not only is everything right with the world, it's even better!

This issue scratched the Kirby itch in a big way, that not even Morrison was able to do during his Final Crisis saga. It's an unapologetic homage to the mad-cap craziness that was Kirby at DC during the early 70's. The fact that they were able to work a "Build-A-Friend" into the first issue was just the icing on the cake. For those of you unaware, that's one of those flying bathtub ladies from the cover of the original OMAC #1.

As much fun as the story was, it wouldn't have been half as entertaining without the fantastic pencils of Keith Giffen. I've been a fan of his style for a long time, but I haven't had this much fun with the energy and dynamism (is that a word?) of his stuff since his early Defenders.

All in all, if DC can manage to make the rest of their fringe and bottom-tier titles half as entertaining as this one, they just might be on to something with this whole reboot thing.

Script by Len WeinPencils by George PerezInks by Pablo MarcosColors by Gene D'AngeloLetters by John Costanza

Thursday, September 8, 2011

I've often wondered what it must have been like to pick up a copy of Action Comics #1 off the newsstand and read it back in the day.

After today, I have just the slightest glimmer of that experience.

Grant Morrison and Rags Morales' reboot of Superman was everything that I hoped it would be. It was wonderfully golden age in its themes and visuals, yet decidedly modern age in its storytelling and execution.

This was a Superman unencumbered by years of pre-existing stories, freeing him up to do what Superman was originally intended to do...fight for the people who couldn't fight for themselves, or were powerless before the rich and corrupt. That's not to say that the planet and universe didn't need saving many times over in the intervening decades, but by taking Superman back to the roots of his roots, we're getting our freshest take since All-Star Superman.

And while Morrison is sure to receive the lion's share of credit for this issue, you'd be foolish to overlook the contribution of Rags Morales, Rick Bryant, and Brad Anderson. Together, the three of them have put together one of the most fluid comic books I've read in some time. Each page flowed into the next one, never leaving me with any question about what was going on. Damn, if this wasn't one fine looking book.

Both of the central creators have had the occasion where the "confusing" Morrison or "rushed" Morales has shown up, thankfully this was not one of those times. If the New 52 had done nothing other than give us this Superman, you'd be hard pressed to call it anything other than a smashing success.

And my favorite part?

That right there is a Superman I want to read for the next few decades.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

"Yeah, sorry about that Batman. I'd totally be down with teaming up, but Powerman doesn't think it's the right move for me at this point in my career. You understand, right?"

And sorry from me about the recent spate of posts on autopilot. It's been an exceptionally busy period for my secret identity, and I didn't get as far ahead as I usually like to be after the summer.

In fact, this whole month is going to be a little touch and go as things don't appear to be lightening up, so I'm thinking about messing with the format for the month of September to amp up the excitement and danger level. We'll see if I can keep the daily posts going, while flying by the seat of my pants.

So join us tomorrow as the pre-crisis, post-crisis, golden age, and silver age version of Superman takes us on a whirlwind tour of the new DCU.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

What possible reason could there be that Superman just happens to have punch-card profiles of every eligible bachelor in Metropolis? After all, it's not like he even has any formidable female rogues, where a precaution like this would actually make sense.

Who watches the watchmen, indeed!

Script by Cary Bates
Pencils by John Rosenberger
Inks by Vince Colletta

Saturday, August 27, 2011

There is nowhere near enough comic book covers colored with crayons, which makes this Adventures Of Superman issue worthy of being spotlighted for today's awesome cover post!

This is a great piece by Tom Grummett that does a very good job of capturing the spirit of a kid's drawing. In fact, the only thing that gives it away is the S-Shield. No kid is ever going to get the shield that precise. Hell, I turned 41 the other day and I still can't draw it!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

It's creepy enough that Vandal Savage is peeping through the curtains at Superman and Lois' intimate moment...but then to have Luthor and Jimmy spying on Vandal and commenting on his emotional needs just amps up the creepiness.

Script by Marv WolfmanPencils by Curt SwanInks by Frank ChiaramonteColors by Gene D'AngeloLetters by Ben Oda

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

One of the staples that I love about reading Silver and Bronze Age comic books are the overcomplicated solutions or convoluted ruses that our heroes have to go through in order to not let anyone catch on to their secret identities. As soon as I think I've read it all, I find one even more ludicrous than that last.

Which leads me to today's post. Now, normally I like to keep things to just one panel per day, but occasionally exceptions must be made and today is one of those exceptions.

To set the stage, Clark Kent is filming a commercial for a watch company who has somehow managed to get Superman to take part as well. How are Clark and Superman both going to appear in the commercial with the secret identity still in effect?

Watch, and be amazed.

After throwing the watch in the air, Clark does a relatively standard move by doing the quick change at super speed. But that still leaves a Clark-less presence in front of the camera.

Now worries, as Superman has a plan...

He peels off a life size promotional cardboard cutout from the side of the news van, and turns it around to expose the 3-D picture he previously planted on the back side!

Before anyone is the wiser, he plants the 3-D cutout in Clark's place. So how is this going to fool anyone?

Well the 3-D side of the cutout has two offsetting images that will appear three dimensional to anyone wearing 3-D glasses.

Now all we have to hope for is that everyone on site remembered to wear their 3-D glasses today.

Or...you could take the initiative and outfit everyone's glasses with 3-D lenses ahead of time!

After that, it's just a simple matter of catching the watch you previously tossed into the air as Superman while your fancy cardboard cutout fools all of the people filming the commercial!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Just a quick post today, as it's your humble bloggers birthday. I'm sure there's some birthday tradition involving presents and cakes and whatnot that the wife and kid have cooked up, so let's get this post taken care of so I can relax and enjoy it.

Which reminds me, didn't Superman have a birthday party once?

Good thing I have a firm "NO BLACK MERCY" rule for all my get-togethers.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

I know that technically we ended our Lois Lane theme week yesterday, but after seeing her go through so many trials and tribulations, I thought it might be nice to highlight a different side of Lois with today's pin-up.

Thankfully, Dave Bullock has this great shot floating around the internet for us to cleanse our palet with.

Damn, if that isn't just about perfect.

I still think it's a crying shame that we didn't end up with a Lois Lane solo title in the new 52. I'm sure Batman wouldn't have minded sacrificing one of his eleven titles, right?

Be sure to visit Dave and see more of his exceptional work over here and here.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

So yeah, Lois was quite the emotional roller coaster during the Silver Age, but not always.

Every once in a while you got a gem of a story like The Satanic Schemes of S.K.U.L.! that showed her using all of her investigative skills to go undercover into a satanic cult that was hell-bent on killing Superman.

Nary a >chokesobgulpgasp< is to be found...except for the title page.

Lois is a team player. She knew that you had to lay the melodrama on a little think every now and again to help sell the story, even if you had things well in had.

Monday, August 15, 2011

So I recently came into a whole stack of mid-60's Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane comic books. I've never really read much of her (or Jimmy Olsen's) solo adventures before, and this was a real eye opener working my way through them.

First, these issues gave me a new appreciation for Kurt Schaffenberger! He's got such a crisp line, and smooth style that makes the books gorgeous to look at and fun to read. I'm now even more excited to fill out the rest of the collection.

The second thing I noticed is what an emotional wreck Lois Lane is for most of these. We've been spoiled with the dogged journalist interpretation for years, but take a trip back to the sixties and it wasn't always like that. You can't let three panels go by, without here breaking down over something.

All of which leads to this month's theme week, as we take a tour through the emotional ups and downs of Lois Lane.

Poor Lois!

But as you can see, not all the ladies were basket cases, as Joan Superman takes the opportunity to realize that bald dudes are hot!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Tonight marks the start of the annual display of the Perseid Meteor Shower. Those of us in the northern hemisphere should expect to see about 60 or so an hour come racing across the sky over the next two nights.

That's if there wasn't a full moon brightening up the night sky, meaning there's not going to be too much to see.

Or maybe it's Superman's fault, up in the stratosphere busting 'em all to smithereens?

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Making a grand total of one appearance in print, the Tempter didn't do a very good job tempting the readers into demanding more appearances.

A veritable blank slate of a character, he spends this issue whispering diabolical sweet nothings into the ear of Superman, tempting him to react to his baser instincts. He's good, and soon has Superman convinced he must destroy Midway City!

The plots a tad more convoluted than that, throwing Kandorian scientists and the Hawks into the mix, only to have true love surface to save the day. But honestly, if the creators of the character can't be bothered to give a little more backstory for the Tempter than I've probably already spent too much time examining him anyways.

So until some enterprising, young Grant Morrison wannabe upstart pulls him from obscurity for a starring role in the current DCU, he remains a character continuity forgot.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

It's been quite a while now, since we've seen the pencils of Terry Dodson grace the pages of a DC comic. With that in mind, it might be nice to revisit one of the rare times that he did some Superman work for today's awesome cover feature.

To find one, we have to go outside the Superman line of titles and drift over into the batworld, as aside from one fill-in issue of The Adventures of Superman, Terry Dodson never really did much Superman work.

What he did do, however, was a nice extended run on the under-appreciated Harley Quinn title from the early 2000's, and that's where we get today's cover from.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

You've escaped imprisonment in a Soviet Socialist Republic prison camp after giving yourself super powers by using a blend of three ancient Kryptonian hyper-explosives that crash landed on Earth after being banned and sent into the vastness of space.

So did the Kryptonian's fire off any rockets that didn't eventually crash on Earth?

Anyways, you're now set up with a new life in America and it's time to make Superman pay for never having rescued you from your slave labor, only there is one problem...you have a killer Iron Curtain mustache that you're unwilling to shave off and will no doubt give away your identity.

Monday, August 1, 2011

As promised at the beginning of last month, we'll be spending the next couple of our Famous' Firsts posts looking at the first time each of the creators involved in the DC New 52 initiative first got their pencil or typewriter involved with the Man of Steel.

Today's entry features the mighty talent of George Perez!

Now this will actually be the second time that George Perez has made a high-profile entry into the Superman line, with the first being the helming of Action Comics when it returned to a monthly after its stint as Action Comics Weekly. For whatever reason, his time on the title never panned out, and he left the title with the potential for a great run never realized. Here's hoping the second time doesn't set a pattern.

That wasn't however, the first time George Perez got the chance to draw Superman. For that, we have to go back another eight years or so to some of Perez' earliest DC work in the pages of Justice League of America #185.

In looking at that panel, you can definitely see the beginning of the George Perez style. The funny thing is, however, is that I see it in the rubble and background more than with Superman himself!

George Perez is definitely famous for his massive crowd shots and dense illustration, but hands down, he's the best rubble illustrator in the business...and he's got three decades of work to prove it.

Script by Gerry ConwayPencils by George PerezInks by Frank McLaughinColors by Gene D'AngeloLetters by Todd Klein

Saturday, July 30, 2011

One of the highlights of the recent spate of Flashpoint mini-series has been Flashpoint: Knight of Vengeance, with Azzarello and Risso's return to the world of Batman (sort of).

Azzarello made his mark on Superman already, with the twelve-part For Tomorrow storyline that brought Jim Lee to the pages of Superman along with him. Risso, on the other hand, has not done a whole lot that I'm aware of.

There was his awesome variant cover for Superman #700, that was in itself an homage to the great Neal Adams cover for #233, but the only other thing that I can find is a pin-up from The Adventures of Superman #600.

Like a lot of Risso's work, it's very atmospheric and moody, which is not a side of Superman you see every day. I'm not sure I'd like to see Risso as a regular Superman artist by any means, but it sure would be a treat to see him give it a go for a one-shot or mini-series, if the tone was right.